There are quite a few contrasts in the hedgerows as you drive over the moss.
Some conscientious farmers have already been out with their flails, trimming the new growth over long lengths and leaving long white slashes against the green of the leaves.
Other hedgerows have a shimmer to them, particularly hawthorn hedges. The new shoots are borne on red twigs and these cast a haze over the hedge, a scarlet veil through which you see the stonger colours of the green leaves and brown branches.
There are still a few pieces of may blossom on the hedges but there is an awful lot of bindweed flowering at the moment. Shakespeare always referred to it as columbine, but gardeners call it other names for its habit of twining tightly around their favourite plants!
Out in its natural habitat, it looks a wonderful flower, its large trumpet poised like a bold white structure among the hawthorn leaves.
Music on the Moss: With ringing guitars and a particular penchant for a particular rhythm, Charlie were a group that could only be English. After all, their lead singer and writer was called Terry Thomas! But success eluded them here and they made more of a mark in America, which is a pity as I think Thomas was as an individual writer, with the ind of style that could only come from an Englishman, as Ray Davies. This 70s guitar band - which even added a second drummer once it crossed the water - produced some really catchy tracks. I've been listening to their second album, No second chance, and I'm surprised at just how good it is still is after all these years. The title track and others has a particular shuffle rhythm that Thomas uses to great effect to move the song along. The guitar breaks are clean and crisp, too, and the lyrics show a deal of sophistication. And only an English writer could pen an anthem to that stalwart of 70s heavy metal concerts, the Greatcoat Guru! You must have seen him in his Army surplus overcoat!

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